


The Shadow Awakening (a Ninjago fan season/story)

by StormtheNinja



Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: Angst, Brother-Sister Relationships, Brotherly Love, Brothers, Canon Compliant, Family, Family Feels, Found Family, Gen, Ninja, Original Character(s), Team as Family, Weapons, later angst, more tags to be added as the story goes on - Freeform, ninjago season 1-7
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-07
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-12 13:14:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,167
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29261037
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StormtheNinja/pseuds/StormtheNinja
Summary: An odd performance, new friends, and a dark secret. Something is brewing in Ninjago.This story is the culmination of 7+ years of enjoying lego ninjago. My first OC was made for this story, and over time she became her own being (and inspired my artist name/username). I hope you enjoy the fruits of many years of story working. Check the prologue chapter for more details on the story and where in the ninjago timeline it is!
Kudos: 1





	1. Intro/preface/prologue

Sup nerds!  
So I wanted to explain a few pieces of context you need to understand the story.

Where in the Ninjago timeline is this?  
This story takes place in between Day of the Departed and season 7. Yes, I know this isn’t quite canon, but I like to consider that after the day of the departed a year or more passed as they cleaned up the temple and prepared to move in. This leaves a time gap for me to work in where Zane’s titanium, Cole has his scar but isn’t a ghost, Nya has her powers, etc. This also means that they’re currently living in the Bounty.  
ALSO this happens before the movie and subsequent character changes. Thus I’ll be working with more or less the canon season 1-7 designs and characteristics. Certainly I may borrow some add ons (Jay’s freckles and such) but otherwise I’ll be sticking to before the movie for canon. 

Ages?  
Again, these are mainly headcanons because age is a hard thing to measure in the ninjago universe. Some people think that they’re still teenagers. While I don’t have solid numbers worked out yet, I think they’re all around 20 or over (Cole, Jay, Kai) and differ by a year or two each. Zane is about that age in his robot form. Nya is 19 or so, with Storm coming in at 17-18. Solid ages may come out later in the storyline.

Who should I be picturing when reading the story?  
Humanoids, not lego pieces!

Where are Lloyd and Wu??  
Simply put, I slid them out of the picture. Lloyd is, in my canon, off training with Wu to be a sensei, which in turn would help logicalize the others starting to call him “Sensei Lloyd” in season 7. I find that Lloyd can sometimes act as the default main character, and due to this he doesn’t have enough character building to work well in my story. Plus, the transfer into season 7 always bugged me so it’s a win-win. 

I’ve spotted a loophole or mistake :o  
Well of course you did lol. No matter how much time I work on this story, I’m human just like you. We make mistakes and that’s alright. I try to narrow all the gaps in my logic as much as possible (see chapter 2 for Zane’s explanation as an example) but if you find a spelling mistake I’d appreciate a comment to let me know :P 

(Plus the ninjago timeline and ages and stuff are *wack* I’m doing my best with the mess of information given to me lol)

May I ship-  
NOPE! Sorry but I’ll be sticking to canon ships within the show only and I write the ninja as platonic brothers. This means that they can hug, ruffle hair, call each other nicknames, etc. While you’re free to ship your own ships, I would ask that you don’t use my story for it. Storm also should NOT be shipped with any of the ninja. Platonic love is a big theme in my story so please respect it! (You are welcome to ship Jay and Nya though!)

I’ve got another question!  
Good! Feel free to leave a comment! I’d love to discuss stuff with you :)

Thanks nerds, and enjoy the story!


	2. Ladies and Gentlemen, Welcome to the Show

As the sun hit its peak over the island of Ninjago, the rhythmic flap of wings echoed through the mountain tops. If a rice farmer was to look up from their work, they would see 4 elemental dragons soaring together through the afternoon sky. As they dipped and dived through the clouds, their riders yelled over the roar of the wind.

“Yo, Cole!” Jay casually leaned away from his dragon saddle, his auburn hair whipping against his pale face. “Why are we going to Jamanakai Village again?” 

Cole’s stern look made Jay shift back into his seat. “Did you not listen at all during debrief?”   
“Uh, yeah I listened. I just forgot to remember it!”

Cole sighed. “Kai, do you want to explain it to him?”

“Yeah, yeah, sure.” Kai smirked as he leaned back in his seat. “Basically there’s a new elementalist or something that has popped up in a few villages as of late, so we’re going to check it out.” 

“The elementalist is reportedly a female, age unknown, and her powers have been semi-controversial. Some people claim she has water abilities, and others claim she has lightning abilities. We’ve had a couple claims that it’s something else altogether.” Zane shrugged, holding his reins steady. “To be perfectly honest, we don’t know what we are dealing with.” 

“Well, this sounds actually interesting!” Jay snapped the reins and his dragon pulled ahead. “See you there, slowpokes!”

“Jay, wait! We need to be stealthy!”

“Yeah, yeah, we’re on the opposite side of the mountain! Just don’t be in view of Jamanakai Village and we’ll be fine!” 

After they quietly landed on the mountainside, they allowed their elemental dragons to dissipate. Zane started to remove various articles of clothing from his backpack. “We’ll need to be somewhat disguised while we go about the village, so Nya supplied me with a variety of hoodies and hats. Hopefully these will be enough to avoid detection.”

“Oh lighten up Zane. I’m sure we’ll be fine! There’ll be tons of people on the streets already, so we’ll blend right in.” 

“Even so, Kai, I would rather be safe than sorry.” Zane smiled and handed him a blue hoodie and a black hat. 

“Aw, what? But red is my color!”

“Yeah, hothead, and if you wore red you’d be recognized immediately.” Cole took a red hoodie and a blue hat, handing Jay a white hoodie and a white hat. Zane put on a black hoodie and a red hat and turned back towards the others. Together, they made their way towards Jamanakai Village.

The village was bustling with life as the ninja stepped into the throng of people. Voices echoed off the tan buildings with curved dark roofs, and the wind blew a cold breath across the red maple treetops. It was a busy day in the village. 

“So, what’s our plan?” Jay glanced around the alleyways and shops. “How do we even know that she’ll be here today?”

Kai shrugged. “Seems like the next plausible place for her to go. She’s been going from village to village, so it makes sense that she’d be travelling to the next nearest one.”

Zane nodded and his eyes flickered across some invisible documents within his programming. “She seems to stay at each village for a small period of time. Most reports at the same locations came in at similar time frames, so we must assume that she shows off her powers somehow on one day, and then leaves soon after.”

“So we don’t know whether she’ll be here or even showing off her powers today?” Cole looked frustrated. “Man, I hate having to wait around and hope we guessed right.”

“Technically, the reports all came in near the weekend. Seeing that it’s Thursday, the earliest that she’s been reported within the week, this is at least a strong start.” Zane shrugged, tilting his hat down to try and hide his silver complexion. “We just have to be patient.” 

“Alright, fine.” Cole said. “So, how about we split up. Kai, Jay, take the main square. Me and Zane will split up and wander around, maybe talk to some shop owners to get some information. Kai, you have your phone, so message Zane if you find anything.”

Kai nodded. He and Jay began to wander toward the main square, and Cole turned back to Zane. “Well, I guess let’s go see what we can find.”

“Sooooo, want anything?” Jay grinned, already eating some cotton candy. “We might be here a while.”

“C’mon Jay, be serious.” Kai glanced around as they entered the square, choosing a picnic table to sit at to scout out the area. “We have to be aware of what’s going on so that we can try to find her. We don’t know if she’s dangerous.”

Jay sat down, facing towards the center of the square while Kai sat facing him. “Yeah, that’s true. I hope not though, we really don’t need anymore trouble in Ninjago. We just finished with Cole turning back to being a person or whatever, and Lloyd’s off training with Wu for who knows how long.”

The square was a busy area at almost any time of day. Kids ran between houses and alleyways, while others traveled among their daily business. Stalls keepers called out their wares and small groups of tourists wandered through it all, cameras in hand. While it wasn’t as chaotic as New Ninjago City, it was certainly a lot to watch while looking for possible danger. Jay let his eyes wander, hoping to catch some interesting detail among it all. 

“Jay. Hey Jay!”

“What?”   
“Look at that girl by the toy stand.”

Jay glanced towards the stand, trying to be discrete. There, making light chatter with the shopkeeper, was a girl carrying an empty crate. Her copper hair was choppy, with uneven bangs on the front. She was wearing a baggy blue hoodie and dark grey pants. “Yeah? What about her.”

“I dunno, something about her seems off.” Kai turned back towards Jay. “Might be nothing though.”

Jay shrugged, continuing to watch the girl. Among the regular townsfolk, she did stand out somewhat since she was wearing a backpack. It looked to hold quite a number of supplies- though, Jay admitted, she could just be a tourist. She didn’t carry a camera though, unlike the groups that would come in periodically (after all, it was the town where the Serpentine first attacked after their return!), and she chatted with the stall keepers fairly easily. 

Jay ate some of his cotton candy and did another sweep of the square. It was almost noon, and a huge crowd mingled in the space. The number of people and the immense noise of it all certainly made things harder to focus on. Nothing else seemed to stand out.   
“Ladies and Gentlemen!”

Jay quickly stood up, frantically trying to locate the yell. A street performer. Of course, why else would she be going from town to town? And showing off her powers? She’s doing a performance for money! 

Kai was also on his feet. “There!” he pointed across the square, where the crowd was converging into one spot. “Quick, you get to the front, I’m gonna call Zane and then I’ll try to get as close as I can.”

“Got it!” Jay jumped out of his chair and rushed into the crowd. “Sorry! ‘Scuze me, pardon me!” As Jay managed to get closer to the front, he could start to hear what was going on.   
“...a show to remember. Now, stand back and be careful! This could get dangerous.”

A shiver ran down Jay’s spine as the familiar scent of ozone hit his nose. Electricity. The crowd laughed as the girl made her choppy auburn hair stand straight up, sparks dancing on her fingertips. She grinned slyly and held out her hands, making the kids in the front of the group squeal with delight as their hair danced with the current.    
Jay smiled at the jest, but he was worried. Another lightning elementalist? He was pretty sure he didn’t have a sister, let alone some other relative able to harness the element. As she continued to play with sparks and amaze the crowd, Jay turned to look for Kai. He watched as Kai squirmed through the crowd to where he could see the show, giving Jay a thumbs up- Zane and Cole got the message and were on their way.    
“While this is fun and all… this isn’t all I can do” The girl said, grinning widely as the sparks fizzled out.    
Jay’s gasp was drowned out by the crowd’s roar of cheers as they watched the show unfold.    
  
Cole and Zane entered the square just as the crowd was beginning to disperse. With a quick glance, they spotted Kai and Jay making their way through the crowd, Jay gesturing towards an empty picnic table.    
“Jeez guys, you good?” Cole said. “You look pretty shaken up.”

“Did something go wrong? Did she do something untrustworthy?” Zane glanced back, now able to see her gathering up the money people left as payment and thanking those who stuck around. “It certainly seems as if the village enjoyed whatever she did. Street performer, then?”

Kai nodded, looking at Jay at a loss for words. Jay shook his head as his leg bounced anxiously under the table.    
“So? Jay?” 

Jay sighed and looked up from absently studying the patterns in the wooden table. “Well, uh… It seems like the reports were right.”

Zane smiled. “That’s good! But by your expressions I sense that there is more. Which reports were right? Water, or lightning?”

“Both.”

Zane and Cole stared at Kai in shock. “Both?” Cole asked.

Kai nodded. “She can use both.”


End file.
